NAE Presents Year’s Top Engineering Prizes

This year's highest honors in the engineering profession recognize the groundbreaking creation of the lithium-ion battery and the development of an innovative engineering curriculum that encourages entrepreneurship and leadership.

The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) annually presents two major prizes for engineering excellence. Winners are recognized in separate award ceremonies and receive $500,000.

The Charles Stark Draper Prize for Engineering will be awarded to John B. Goodenough, Yoshio Nishi, Rachid Yazami, and Akira Yoshino for creating the lithium-ion battery. Lithium-ion batteries are used by millions of people around the world in cell phones, laptops, tablets, hearing aids, cameras, power tools, and many other compact, lightweight mobile devices.

The Bernard M. Gordon Prize for Innovation in Engineering and Technology Education will be awarded to John Collier, Robert Graves, Joseph Helble, and Charles Hutchinson for innovation in engineering and technology education at the Dartmouth Engineering Entrepreneurship Program (DEEP) program. Administered through the university's Thayer School of Engineering, DEEP is a multidisciplinary educational paradigm that integrates entrepreneurship and leadership training into all aspects of its curriculum.